Identification and Expression Analysis of G Protein-Coupled Receptors in the Miridae Insect Apolygus lucorum

Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest and most versatile family of transmembrane receptors in the cell and they play a vital role in the regulation of multiple physiological processes. The family Miridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) is one of the most diverse families of insects. Until now, information on GPCRs has been lacking in Miridae. Apolygus lucorum, a representative species of the Miridae, is an omnivorous pest that occurs worldwide and is notorious for causing serious damage to various crops and substantial economic losses. By searching the genome, 133 GPCRs were identified in A. lucorum. Compared with other model insects, we have observed GPCR genes to be remarkably expanded in A. lucorum, especially focusing on biogenic amine receptors and neuropeptide receptors. Among these, there is a novel large clade duplicated from known FMRFamide receptors (FMRFaRs). Moreover, the temporal and spatial expression profiles of the 133 genes across developmental stages were determined by transcriptome analysis. Most GPCR genes showed a low expression level in the whole organism of A. lucorum. However, there were a few highly expressed GPCR genes. The highly expressed LW opsins in the head probably relate to nocturning of A. lucorum, and the expression of Cirl at different times and in different tissues indicated it may be involved in growth and development of A. lucorum. We also found C2 leucine-rich repeat-containing GPCRs (LGRs) were mainly distributed in Hemiptera and Phthiraptera among insects. Our study was the first investigation on GPCRs in A. lucorum and it provided a molecular target for the regulation and control of Miridae pests.

Comparative study of neuropeptide signaling systems in Hemiptera

“…S2). PTHRs have been discovered in Apolygus lucorum, Apis mellifera, Pediculus humanus humanus, Tribolium castaneum, and N. lugens (Li et al, 2013a;Li et al, 2014;Tanaka et al, 2014;Gao et al, 2021), but not in D. melanogaster, Bombyx mori, A. pisum, or Anopheles gambiae (Brody & Cravchik, 2000;Hill et al, 2002;Fan et al, 2010;Li et al, 2013b). Here, PTHRs were lacking in all 5 Sternorrhyncha species and R. prolixus, whereas duplications of DH31-R and PDFR were observed in D. vitifolia.…”

“…, 2014; Gao et al. , 2021), but not in D. melanogaster , Bombyx mori , A. pisum , or Anopheles gambiae (Brody & Cravchik, 2000; Hill et al. , 2002; Fan et al.…”

“…Our previous work describes the wide distribution of type C2 LGRs in Hemiptera (Gao et al. , 2021). In this study, type C2 LGRs were also detected in each hemipteran insect, suggesting that type C2 LGRs form a much conserved signaling system in Hemiptera (Fig.…”

Understanding Crassostrea virginica tolerance of Perkinsus marinus through global gene expression analysis

“…Hemocyte activation involves a variety of transmembrane receptors and signaling pathways, including the versatile G-protein coupled receptor and highly conserved Toll-like receptor pathways. “G-protein coupled receptor signaling” facilitates cellular responses to extracellular signals and regulates a diverse array of processes including cell migration, inflammation, and phagocytosis ( Li et al, 2019 ; Gao et al, 2021 ). In addition to our study, upregulation of the G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway has previously been observed in Pacific oyster spat exposed to the OsHV-1 virus ( He et al, 2015 ; Guo and Ford, 2016 ) and 1 year old eastern oyster seed infected with P. marinus ( Proestou and Sullivan, 2020 ).…”

Diversity, domain duplication, birth‐and‐death and adaptive evolution of fatty acyl‐CoA reductase genes in Hemiptera

“…They are distributed all over the world, and the true bugs have diverse feeding habits. Some are herbivorous, such as (i) Apolygus lucorum , which not only harms cotton flowers, but also extensively damages crops such as soybeans, carrots and fruits such as dates, apples and grapes (Gao et al, 2021); (ii) Halyomorpha halys , which can injure more than 300 plants, including fruit trees like apples, pears and peaches, vegetables like soybeans and beets and trees like elms and mulberry trees (Masetti et al, 2021); and (iii) Oncopeltus fasciatus , as a model insect of the Hemiptera, mainly damages common milkweed plants (Chipman, 2017). Other species are carnivorous, such as (i) Rhodnius prolixus and (ii) Cimex lectularius , which mainly feed on human blood (Alzogaray & Zerba, 2017), as well as (iii) Sycanus croceouittatus , which can prey on the fall armyworm (Jamian et al, 2017).…”